Considering the Phylogenetic Trees Above as Strictly Hypothetical and Applying

question 29

Multiple Choice

Considering the phylogenetic trees above as strictly hypothetical and applying the principle of parsimony to the trait "ability to fly," which of the two phylogenetic trees shown is better?

• A) Tree 1
• B) Tree 2
• C) Both trees are equally parsimonious.
• D) Since the trees show different evolutionary relationships, you cannot determine which is more parsimonious.

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Definitions:

Poisson Distribution

A statistical distribution showing the probability of a given number of events happening in a fixed interval of time or space if these events occur with a constant mean rate and independently of the time since the last event.

Poisson Distribution

A distribution for predicting the probability of a given number of events occurring over a fixed interval of time or space.

Normal Distribution

A probability distribution that is symmetric about the mean, showing that data near the mean are more frequent in occurrence than data far from the mean.

Binomial Distribution

A probability distribution that summarizes the likelihood that a value will take one of two independent values under a given set of parameters or assumptions.